07/25/2010

C.G. Application

More or less a year ago, I received my rejection letter from the Board of Certification for Genealogists (BCG). In fact, I received two letters, one from the Executive Director and the other from the President. The president's comments are below. I've experienced pain in my life in dozens of ways. But never, have I ever felt this kind of rejection. Not in college, graduate school, or work. This was something I did for 30 years as an individual and 20 of those years was in writing scholarly articles. In a series of posts this week, I'll go over what I did wrong, why I think the BCG is not a worthy organization, and why I won't apply again.

Two of the three judges for my portfolio passed me. One didn't. Evidently, and they don't tell you this on any of their information, the decision must be unanimous. So, the entire portfolio was sent to a fourth judge. That judge also rejected it. So, the application was denied. The wait time, by the way, from the time I submitted the application to my rejection was a little over six months.

The judge's comments are sent to you. They are the most catty and unconstructive comments I have ever read. They are the types of criticisms for criticism's sake. They know they must criticize something, and when they fail to find something, they invent something. To this day, I'm enraged by their decision. I even hesitate writing about it, but I want others to be aware of this organization and not suffer my fate. It is not just the personal blow, but the waste of time (9 months of assembling and waiting for the results) and the money ($300).

Lastly, the president says it doesn't matter how much you have written. However, in your application packet you must give them a detailed bibliography of your writing. Why if it doesn't matter?